In The News...

Initial Jobless Claims fell by 6,000 to 472,000 in the latest week and just below the 475,000 that was expected. The 4-week moving average was 485,500, a decrease of 2,500 from the previous week. Continuing Claims fell 23,000 to 4.456 million. States reported 4,54 million persons claiming EUC (Emergency Unemployment Compensation) benefits, a decrease of 282,000 from the prior week. US Non-farm final Productivity for the 2nd quarter fell to -1.8% from the -1.7% from the previous estimate. Unit labor costs were inline at 1.1%. Pending Home Sales rose 5.2% in July after falling 30% in May and 2.8% in June. Consensus estimates were calling for a reading of 0.0%. Pending Home Sales tracks homes sales in which a contract is signed but the sale has not yet closed. Mortgage bonds are falling today as investors look to take profits after prices hit record highs on Tuesday. Stock markets are flat after the huge rally that occurred on Wall Street yesterday. Consumers spent a bit more than expected in August spurred on by discounts, as reported by retailers for the back-to-school shopping season. According to Thomson Reuters, 13 retailers beat expectations while seven missed forecasts.

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